Top 15 Notebook PCs

Burning your own music CDs can be fun, fast, and easy--unless you're using a laptop with only one optical drive. If that's the case, you could spend as much time swapping discs as you'll spend listening to the end results. Compaq's new Presario 2701, number four on our value list this month, avoids this problem by including two optical drives: a fixed DVD-ROM drive and a CD-RW drive that shares a bay with the floppy drive. A supplementary second battery came with our test model of this 1.13-GHz/733-MHz Pentium III-M-based system, which is a solid deal for $1999.

The 2701's lighter sibling, the $1599 Presario 1720, gets second place on the value chart. Though it offers only a single DVD-ROM and CD-RW combination drive, it has many of the features you get on the more expensive machine, including an IEEE 1394 port, for $400 less.

Three other laptops we reviewed this month made the cut, including the $3154 Toshiba Tecra 9000, the second notebook on our charts to offer both 802.11b (Wi-Fi) and Bluetooth wireless antennas. At number seven on the power chart, the Tecra 9000 also boasts stylish looks, with an all-silver case, and 3-hour battery life.

Want a notebook sure to elicit a "wow" from everyone who sees it? Toshiba's $2099 Satellite 5005-S504, sixth on the value list, offers rocking good sound and an attractive glossy blue lid.

If you like Sony notebooks but you're not keen on their funky Jog Dial pointing devices, the new $2199 VAIO PCG FX-390P might make you change your mind. This model, which finished eighth on our value list, centers a Jog Dial between the mouse buttons, where it's much easier to roll and press.